Exploring Narrative Structure and Hero Enactment in Brand Stories.

José Sanders,Kobie Van Krieken

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01645

Abstract

This study examines how audiovisual brand stories both invite and enable consumers to enact heroic archetypes. Integrating research on the archetypal structure of narratives with research on the event structure of narratives, we distinguish singular plot stories (i.e., stories that show a Hero’s Journey) from embedded plot stories (i.e., stories that not only show but also tell one or more Hero’s Journeys) and develop a conceptual and narratological framework to analyze their structural elements. Application of the framework to 20 brand stories representing 8 different brands reveals meaningful variation in elements between the singular plot stories and embedded plot stories. Differences in the expression of archetypes and event structure are argued to evoke different types of Hero enactment which in turn result in different outcomes. We specifically hypothesize that the enactment of heroic archetypes in singular plot stories primarily results in catharsis (pleasure), whereas the enactment of heroic archetypes in embedded plot stories primarily results in an outcome we describe as phronesis: a form of moral sense making of the self that advances one’s practical wisdom and prudence. The final section of the paper discusses how cathartic and phronetic outcomes of hero enactment may foster the psychological bonding between brand and consumer, and invite consumers to align their moral values with the values that are reflected by heroic character traits. The central aims of the analysis presented are to provide an exploration of narrative phenomena in a reasonably broad range of brand story videos and foremost to provide a conceptual framework with an applicable instrument suited to analyze relevant categories in these brand stories. The present study is interdisciplinary in its approach to a contemporary, developing marketing phenomenon, applying psychological modeling of archetypes and heroic values with narratological insights on perspective-taking and story structure. Its contribution is to systemize, from a narratological viewpoint, how various narrative archetypes in brand video stories may contribute to the development of brand-consumer relations.

Highlights

Stories are told in every domain of social life: parents tell their children bedtime stories about dragons and castles, teachers tell their students stories about history and society, musicians sing their fans stories about budding and fading romances, organizations tell their stakeholders stories about their past performances and future goals, and novelists tell their readers stories about possible lives in possible worlds
We aimed to arrive at a set that was on the one hand broad enough to represent a reasonable segment of narrative brand videos while it was on the other hand narrow enough to represent brand stories rather than other types of brand video advertisements
Narrative archetypes have been argued to facilitate such bonding processes because they resonate with the audience and have the potential to establish mappings between the identity of the brand and the identity of the consumer (e.g., Ochoa and Lorimer, 2017)

Summary

Introduction

Stories are told in every domain of social life: parents tell their children bedtime stories about dragons and castles, teachers tell their students stories about history and society, musicians sing their fans stories about budding and fading romances, organizations tell their stakeholders stories about their past performances and future goals, and novelists tell their readers stories about possible lives in possible worlds. Perhaps the most well-known character archetype is that of the Hero who embarks on a quest to find a treasure and faces one or more obstacles along the journey while being supported by a helper This template of The Hero’s Journey (Campbell, 1949) can be recognized in stories as diverse as ancient poems such as The Odyssey, Hollywood movies such as the Indiana Jones series, and brand advertisements. The girl subsequently explains her frustration, upon which the mother makes a promise to change her behavior After this exchange, they drink tea together and walk back arm in arm. The archetypal role played by the girl is that of the Hero, whereas the brand fulfills the archetypal role of the Helper that supports the Hero in completing the difficult quest of confronting her mother with her behavior so as to restore their relationship

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